Review: .hack//G.U. Vol 3: Redemption for PS2

Back in early May, I reviewed .hack//G.U. Vol. 2: Reminisce (see our review), the follow-up to .hack//G.U. Vol. 1: Rebirth. The dothack series reaches its epic conclusion in .hack//G.U. Vol 3: Redemption.

This game, like the others, is a Japanese-style RPG, with solid last-gen visuals and a deep Matrix-esque storyline. In this game, we finally learn all the answers brought up in Rebirth and Reminisce. In the year 2017, an evil force takes a hold of the world’s most popular MMORPG, called “The World.” Characters killed in the game fall into comas in real life, adding to the sense of urgency players face in trying to save the world. Dozens of different PCs and PKs make up the cast of good and evil, and it’s all going to be instantly familiar for anyone who played Volume 1 and Volume 2, but confusing to everyone else.

Graphics are still fairly good, and if there’s any improvement I couldn’t tell. Music is brilliant and haunting, while people’s voices go from standard over-acting to fairly annoying adults making baby voices. And controls are the same as they’ve been. So, what additional features are there to justify this third edition?

Haseo is stronger and gains a new “Awakening” power, which lets him dish out more pain to enemies. Additionally, the steam bike is souped-up, with some customizable options. There are new areas to explore and new arena battles. Beyond that not much has changed; and that’s a good thing.

I enjoyed playing the second part of this series, but I think the third one is even better. Some could argue that these games are just being dumped out so quickly, but anyone who’s actually gotten into the games will realize this series has so much going on that it needed to be broken into volumes.

If you’ve put in the time to get this far in the story, you can’t miss out on the last section. But if you haven’t played a dothack, you’re going to be so lost. If it looks cool to you, pick up Volume 1 and play straight through.